The advice of Mr.BADGER

How are pellets manufactured? Is there a risk to our forests?

Wood pellets are made from related sawmills (chips and sawdust resulting from primary processing).

There is no specific tree felling to manufacture pellets. Related products (sawdust and chips from the primary processing of wood, thinnings), once considered waste, are today given value and transformed into pellets with high energy density, local and renewable, for heating and to replace imported fossil fuels.

No sawable tree is therefore directly felled to make energy. Take care however to buy pellets coming from sustainably managed and local forests. It is in this context that our companies are PEFC certified (assurance that the wood that we use comes from sustainably managed forests) and we carry the LOCAL WOOD label!

Below is a video illustrating the manufacture of pellets:

Why choose local pellets rather than imported pellets?

2 X more CO2 emissions: YES, importing pellets has a real environmental impact! We must enhance and consume our local wood resource!

A study of analysis of the life cycle of local pellets in relation to imported pellets was conducted in France by the FCBA (Wood and Forestry Commission Technical Institute). Click here to see the summarised study results.

Without mentioning names, we can tell you that many pellets, sold in Belgium, ‘sometimes’ have Belgian production addresses and that you find, especially in supermarkets, that they are imported from countries in the East, the USA or CANADA.

Even worse, we now have echoes of producers importing their sawdust (raw material for production)! It is 7 times more voluminous than pellets… Imagine the impact of transport…

BADGER Pellets works with local raw wood materials and produces its pellets in Belgium and Luxembourg. The energy we use for manufacturing is self-generated green energy. We respect this philosophy and we cry against Belgian and foreign producers who seem ready, to gain 1 euro, to go around the world for raw material with the ‘sense’ of being renewable…

On the other hand, by consuming locally, you have a better guarantee of service and quality. You encourage the local economy, local jobs and greater energy independence!

How many KG of pellets do I need to replace 1 litre of oil?

2KG (5kWh/kg) of pellets represents the energy equivalent to one litre of oil fuel (10kWh/litre)!

Does storing pellets take up space?

BADGER pellets have a high energy density (+ 650 gr/litre). For an annual consumption of heating and hot water of 20,000 KWh/year (2000 litres of oil), it therefore takes 4 tonnes of BADGER Pellets (i.e. less than 6 M3).

Are pellets dusty? Do they pollute the atmosphere?

BADGER Pellets are dusted on several occasions in order to minimise dust (less than 0.5%) that could be released during blowing into your silo or when your BADGER pellet bag is emptied into the reservoir of your stove. Compared to fuel oil, BADGER pellets are clean, they release a pleasant smell of wood and not stain.

With regard to air pollution, rest assured! Although formerly, burning wet logs in old devices could actually cause pollution problems, the combustion of dry, homogeneous pellets in modern devices is totally controlled and non-polluting! To the contrary, by burning pellets rather than fossil fuels, you avoid significant greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

Pellet appliances emit almost two times less dust than logs or modern bricks already in use. They emit up to 20 times less dust than an old wood boiler, and in the order of 400 times less than an open fire!

How do I know which pellets to buy?

The BADGER pellets team realises the ever greater difficulty for pellets consumers to find where to buy their fuel. Indeed, so many brands, imported and local, have invaded our shops, supermarkets and petrol stations… with huge differences in price and quality!

Beyond highlighting our product over another, we hope through the small document below to help you make your own opinion, with a good selection criteria, and avoiding false notions…

What are the important elements to be taken into account for the receipt and storage of pellets in bulk?

Tips for receiving and storing your pellets in bulk:

1) the storage room must be well located and equipped

Our customers are advised to make sure to limit pumping distance to 15-20 m in order to avoid unnecessary abrasion of wood pellets. If this is not possible, the truck must position itself 24 metres maximum from the filling portal of the silo. Beyond 24 metres, there is a risk of deterioration in the quality of pellets due to friction in pipes. The quality of pellets is therefore no longer guaranteed!

The access path to the point of delivery should be large enough for the truck, of which the dimensions are:

width : 3 m,

length : 10 to 12 m,

height : 4 m.

The filling connections must be easily accessible by the driver and must be connected to earth.

If there are bends, a large curvature radius is required.

Use approved materials (contact us for more information on this material). The walls and floors of the silo room must be clean and dry.

The storage silo must have a minimum capacity of 3 tons (or 5 m3, or 7 m3 gross).

2) your silo must have an inspection door

this door must be sufficiently wide and high for easy access (cleaning of the elevator, access to extraction system if necessary). Its position should allow control when the silo is full.

3) Your silo should be air tight and contain at least two connection ports (blowing and suction)

Provide two connection ports with Storz or Guillemin (fire) connection in DN 100 with a minimum spacing of 50 cm, of which one will be used for filling and one for suction.

To avoid dust escaping from the silo during filling: provide a tight seal around the door or inspection door and ensure the tightness of the walls.

The filling connection must be easily accessible by the driver and must be connected to earth. If there is are curves, a large curvature range is mandatory (radius).

4) Your silo must have an impact protection mat

the silo must be equipped with a reception mat, placed in front of the filling portal (one carpet per portal) and a minimum of 20 cm from the wall. This mat allows the cushioning of pellets when filling and avoids any damage.

5) Your silo must be sufficiently sloped and smooth

The sections of your silo should have a minimum angle of 40 degrees in relation to the ground. An angle of 35 ° may be sufficient provided a very smooth laminated panel type material is used to facilitate the sliding of pellets and complete emptying of the silo.

A long silo is preferred over a wide one (length in the direction of the screw) in order to optimise the useful volume.

Inclined V faces or cones with diamond point depending on the type of pellet recovery. For information there are also canvas silos with an automatic reset when the silo is empty.

Attention, make sure that your silo is well drained 1x/year!

Do I need to maintain my pellet stove? How often should I do it and what should I do?

In the same way that it is necessary to properly install the stove, regularly maintaining the heating device is extremely important to ensure proper functioning over the long term!

1 to 4 times per week, it is advisable to perform the following cleaning and controls:

With the stove off and cooled, pick up the ash collection tray.

Check and clean the perforated crucible, ensuring that all air intake holes are clear.

Clean the crucible-door, the combustion air tube and ignition resistance of any ash residues.

Clean the combustion chamber and the windows with non-abrasive products.

In case of bad combustion and if you observe an increase of deposits, also carry out this cleaning process.

These tips are general and given for informational purposes, always read the (specific) details for your stove, which precisely describe any specific maintenance operations.

Do a search on Youtube for “pellet stove daily maintenance” and you will easily find short videos demonstrating daily maintenance for your pellet stove. Many stove manufacturers have posted them.

Call a professional at least once a year: Depending on your stove, they must perform at least the following maintenance operations:

Clean the beam of the heat exchanger tubes, removing deposited dust.

Lubricate the screws of removable parts.

Fully clean the smoke exhaust duct.

Perform general cleaning of the parts between the two doors of the stove.

Carefully re-fit dismantled parts.

What should I do with my BADGER Pellet bags once empty?

We receive numerous testimonials from BADGER Pellets consumers who use their empty bags for other purposes.

You can for example use them to hold paper and cardboard for recycling collection!

BADGER Pellets makes every effort to have a product in accordance with the principles of sustainable development (fully integrated production circuit, use of green energy, paper and non-plastic packaging, CO2 reducing pellets, PEFC certified company,…). It’s your turn to further accentuate the positive impact of our product on the environment!

Are we at risk of running out of pellets in the coming years?

The Belgian production capacity today is 650,000 tonnes for a current consumption of about 250,000 tons. The market is therefore only waiting for one thing: to develop through your heating, that of our towns and communities and to replace and reduce our dependence on imported and polluting fossil fuels!

At BADGER Pellets, we have invested in large storage capacity in order to deliver year-round, summer and winter, even in the event of intense demand on the market.

Is the price of pellets likely to strongly increase during the coming years?

The price of pellets is undeniably competitive!

Since 2009, oil and gas prices have increased sharply. The increase in electricity prices remains more moderate for the moment, but increases have been announced. Wood pellets remain the energy option with the lowest increases.

How to explain the evolution of the price of the wood pellet?

Improvement of the quality of the product (ENplus DINplus certification…).

Improvement of the quality of delivery and availability: truck weighing onboard, dust extraction, outreach services and availability of stock.

The increase in the price of the raw material which represents more than 50% of the production cost of pellets. The price of wood, like that of all raw materials, increases, allowing better utilization and access to a broader resource.

Heating with wood pellets is undoubtedly competitive in addition to being a serious ecological solution to the problems of air quality and energy independence. Remember that wood pellets are local energy, a generator of jobs and economic growth.

Beyond the economic argument, wood pellet heating meets the expectations of users in terms of energy performance, comfort and automatism.

What are the CO2 emissions related to pellets rather than fossil fuels?

Here is a schema (source ADEME) that shows CO2 emissions related to the use of pellets rather than fossil fuels.

The energy (in the form of heat and electricity) we use to produce our BADGER Pellets is a self-generated green energy from our co-generation and trigeneration (powered by wood at end of life).

The integration of our activities (integrated bio-sites) and the use of local wood allows us to also greatly reduce transport and limit greenhouse gas emissions as far as possible.

We have commissioned the company CO2LOGIC to calculate our CO2 balance. This study (available via the link below) highlights the exemplary CO2 emission results, of course compared to fossil fuels, but also compared with the pellets of our competition. Thanks to our circular economy model, we are the only ‘co2reducer’ pellets!

What is the ideal packaging?

The ideal packaging will depend on the consumption of your installation, your habits and your needs. BADGER Pellets offers many innovative packaging options (in bulk, in bags, BADGER BAG, BADGER BOX,…) that you will find on the ‘product’ tab.

What do the DIN plus and EN plus certifications guarantee?

Learn more about the certifications, we invite you to browse the documents below, which are very useful.